AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs AMD Athlon X4 970

Comparative analysis of AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and AMD Athlon X4 970 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s), PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark.

AMD Ryzen 9 3900

AMD Athlon X4 970

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Ryzen 9 3900

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 1 month(s) later
8 more cores, run more applications at once: 12 vs 4
20 more threads: 24 vs 4
Around 107400% higher clock speed: 4300 MHz vs 4 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 7 nm vs 28 nm
Around 50% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
3x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later

Launch date	24 Sep 2019 vs 27 July 2017
Number of cores	12 vs 4
Number of threads	24 vs 4
Maximum frequency	4300 MHz vs 4 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm vs 28 nm
L1 cache	768 KB vs 128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB vs 2 MB

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Ryzen 9 3900
CPU 2: AMD Athlon X4 970

Name	AMD Ryzen 9 3900	AMD Athlon X4 970
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	30.97
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	70.972
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	1.748
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	4.924
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	19.043
PassMark - Single thread mark		1700
PassMark - CPU mark		3811

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Ryzen 9 3900	AMD Athlon X4 970
Essentials
Architecture codename	Zen 2	Bristol Ridge
Launch date	24 Sep 2019	27 July 2017
OPN Tray	100-000000070	AD970XAUM44AB
Place in performance rating	1372	1404
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Family		AMD Athlon Processors
OPN PIB		AD970XAUABBOX
Series		AMD Athlon X4
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	3100 MHz	3.8 GHz
L1 cache	768 KB	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB	2 MB
L3 cache	64 MB
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	28 nm
Maximum core temperature	95 °C
Maximum frequency	4300 MHz	4 GHz
Number of cores	12	4
Number of threads	24	4
Unlocked
Die size		246 mm
Maximum case temperature (TCase)		74 °C
Transistor count		1178 million
Memory
Max memory channels	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	47.68 GB/s
Maximum memory size	128 GB
Supported memory types	DDR4-3200	DDR4
Supported memory frequency		2400 MHz
Compatibility
Sockets supported	AM4	AM4
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	65 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		1
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	20
PCI Express revision	4.0	3.0
PCIe configurations	1x16+x4, 2x8+x4, 1x8+2x4+x4
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Virus Protection (EVP)
Fused Multiply-Add 3 (FMA3)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2)
Fused Multiply-Add (FMA)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)